Wednesday, September 15, 2010

The Ten Commandments

Religion: Most believe in it, some justify themselves because of it, many judge by it, and many die by it. I have read religious texts many times (specifically the Bible) and I can still not find one ounce of truth to it. For me, personally, I value science too much to completely disregard it just because a book says something different is true. I am not someone who denies that there is a God or higher power because I personally do not know. However, I do not blindly follow what the Bible says either. I especially cannot follow the Bible after reading all of the murder, rape, genocide, infanticide, slavery, torture, intolerance, and hate filled within that book. Religious people like to say that I take out parts of the Bible without "understanding" what it means. What is there to understand or interpret when the Bible tells you to stone children to death for disobeying? I have written about the horrors of the Bible before, but this time I want to focus on the "morality" in the Bible. Many people like to argue that morality came with religion...I beg to differ.

First off, let us take a look at these ten, or rather 12, commandments:1. I am the Lord your God 2. You shall have no other gods before me 3. You shall not make for yourself an idol 4. Do not take the name of the Lord in vain 5. Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy 6. Honor your father and mother 7. You shall not murder 8. You shall not commit adultery 9. You shall not steal 10. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor 11. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife 12. You shall not covet anything that belongs to your neighbor

First of all, when studying human beings who lived before biblical times, we have proof that ideas of altruism and "morality" did not just spontaneously occur with the Bible. They already had these ideals long before the Bible came around. Second, why is it that more of these commandments have to do with jealousy than actual crime? Also, when comparing the ten commandments to, say, the laws in America, why are there not any commandments about rape or abuse? Why are there not commandments about torture? Furthermore, some of these commandments aren't carried out through law. For example, people do not go to jail for adultery nor do they for not keeping the Sabbath holy or for lying to someone. The ideas of crime and what the Bible says is crime do not go hand-in-hand with each other. Therefore, they cannot coincide. The people in America who want this country to go "back" to it's biblical roots do not realize that doing this completely violates the Constitution. Also, their beloved founding fathers were not even as Christian as they would like to claim! Most of them were Deists, Atheist, or they just flat out despised Christianity. People would always like to judge others by what they believe is right or wrong, disregarding their own behavior. That is why I strongly believe it is better for everyone for religion to be separate. If people want to believe in it, that is fine, but others should not have to die for it.